On July 22, APD Police Chief Cecily Barker presented to the Albuquerque Economic Forum the city’s midyear crime statistics based on reported offenses comparing crime totals from January to June 2025 with the same time frame in 2026.
The Economic Forum was founded in 1982 and it is considered the most influential business organization in the city that provides a network for major business owners, investors, developers, banking interests and real estate investors and developers and government, education, and community leaders. Its monthly breakfast meetings are not open to the public but are reported on by news agencies.
STATISITICS SHOWING DECLINE IN CRIME
APD Chief Baker reported that most major crime categories, including homicide, burglary and vandalism have declined. Motor vehicle theft saw the largest drop, falling 36% compared with 2025. Homicides fell from 36 in 2025 to 29 in 2026, a 19% decrease.
According to the Albuquerque Police Department, the city’s Mid-year Albuquerque crime statistics show crime is down in the following major categories:
- Homicides: DOWN 19% (36 homicides in 2025 and 29 in 2026 mid year)
- Sex offense: DOWN 4%
- Burglary/Breaking and Entering: DOWN 25%
- Destruction/Damage/Vandalism: DOWN 29%
- Fraud Offenses: DOWN 10%
- Larceny/Theft Offenses: DOWN 12%
- Motor Vehicle Theft: DOWN 36%
- Robbery: DOWN 15%
- Stolen Property Offenses: DOWN 32%
- Weapon Law Violations: DOWN 22%
Chief Barker acknowledged, despite statistics showing crime has decreased in major categories, public perception has not necessarily followed. Barker said this:
“One thing I’ve always said is I can throw crime stats at you all day long and say how great we’re doing as a city, but one thing that we recognize is the perception of crime. … Over the last few years, our homicide detectives have seen a solve rate at or above 90% every single year. … In fact, our detectives are two cases away from solving every homicide case in 2025.”
Barker credited APD’s expanded use of technology for the decline in crime while addressing community concerns about tools such as drones and automated license plate readers. Barker said this:
“I know that drones make people nervous, but I assure you, we are only interested in criminal activity.”
Barker said officers using automated license plate readers must enter a case number and explain why they are searching for a specific vehicle. Officers who fail to meet those requirements lose access to the system.
STATICS SHOWING INCREASES IN CRIME
While Chief Barker highlighted declines across many crime categories, she addressed increases in other areas.
According to the Albuquerque Police Department, the city’s Mid-year Albuquerque crime statistics show crime is UP in the following areas:
- Aggravated assault: UP 3%
- Simple assault: UP 4%
- Kidnapping/Abduction: UP 14%
- Drugs/Narcotics Offenses: UP 76%
Chief Barker noted that Drug and Narcotics offenses, which can include charges such as drug possession, trafficking or manufacturing, have increased 76%. Barker said this:
“We see the most open-air drug usage on the Central corridor. … We have our proactive response teams that are out there every single day. We really are trying to make an arrest of the people who are supplying the drugs.”
Aggravated and simple assaults also increased 3%-4% since 2025, while kidnappings offenses which often committed in domestic disputes are up by 14%. Barker noted that crime operations have been underway to focus on specific areas to address the increase in assaults. A knife-wielding man was shot by police in the North Valley during one such operation.
POLICE OFFICER SHOOTINGS
Chief Barker noted that Albuquerque police have shot 7 people this year, compared with 10 shootings during the same time in 2025. Notwithstanding the decline in police shootings, Barker cautioned and said this:
“As our officers are being proactive, we might see an increase in uses of force. … But our goal is to make arrests of the right people, and I believe that we are doing that.”
The link the relied upon or quoted news sources are here:
https://www.cabq.gov/police/crime-statistics
RAW DATA DOWNLOAD
Following are the city’s mid-year raw crime statistics reported by APD for the period of January 1, 2026 to June 30, 2026 compared to the time period of January 1, to June 30, 2025:
PROPERTY CRIMES OF INTERST (MID-YEAR)
PROPERTY CRIME OFFENSES
- Auto Theft (APD Unit): 2026: 937 2025: 1,406 Change: -33% (Auto Theft based on APD Auto Theft number)
- Auto Theft (Reported) 2026: 1,209 2025: 1.907 Change : -37% (Residential and Commercial burglaries based on Location Category which is identified by reporting officer.)
- Auto Burglary: 2026: 1,647 2025: 1,767 Change: -7%
- Residential Burglary: 2026: 848 2025: 1,020 Change -17% (Residential and Commercial burglaries based on Location Category which is identified by reporting officer.)
- Commercial Burglary: 2026: 522 2025: 801 Change: -35%
- Shoplifting: 2026: 2,961 2025: 3,638 Change: -19%
TOTAL PROPERTY CRIMES: 2026: 7,187 2025: 9,133 % Change: -21%
VIOLENT CRIMES (MID-YEAR)
- Agg. Assault 2026: 2,260 2025: 2,081 Change: +9%
- Sex Crimes 2026: 246 2025: 259 Change: -5 %
- Robbery 2026: 323 2025: 376 Change: -14%
- Total 2026: 2,829 2025 : 2,716 Change: -4%
HOMICIDES (MID-YEAR)
HOMICIDES: 2026: 27 2025: 35 Change: -23%
ARRESTS (NEW CHARGES, MID-YEAR))
EDITORS NOTE: Arrests include all arrest types (taken into custody, on-site, cited, summoned).
- Felony arrests: 2026: 3,540 2025: 2,583 Change: +37 (Felony Warrant includes arrests with felony warrant charge.)
- Misdemeanor arrests: 2026: 6,656 2025: 5,805 Change: +15% (Misdemeanor Warrant includes arrests with Misdemeanor warrant charge.)
WARRANT ARRESTS (MID YEAR)
- Felony warrants 2026: 3,808 2025: 3,271 Change: 16%
- Misdemeanor warrants 2026: 1,658 2025: 996 Change: 66%
QUALITY OF LIFE OFFENSES (MID YEAR)
EDITOR’S NOTE: These are offenses involving the unhoused and include Criminal Trespass, Erecting Structure Park, and Littering and are based on arrests (citation, summons, taken into custody) and TraCS citations. Median City Code based on Field Contact Cards where “median” is used. CT Notice based on Field Contact Cards where “criminal trespass notice” or “CT notice” is used. Median Citations Include citations (TraCS and Mark43) for all 8-2-7-2 ordinances.
- Criminal Trespass 2026: 3,111 2025: 1,653 Change: +88%
- CT Notices (CC) 2026: 1,710 2025: 1,670 Change: +2%
- Median City Code (CC) 2026: 48 2025: 46 Change: +4%
- Median Citations 2026: 288 2025: 141 Change: +104%
- Erecting Structure Park 2026: 21 2025 21 Change: 0%
- Littering 2026: 48 2025 66 Change: -2%
PRIORITY CALLS FOR SERVICE
The Albuquerque Police Department (APD) categorizes emergency calls into five priority levels, each indicating the urgency and response required. These priorities help the APD allocate resources effectively and ensure that the most critical situations receive immediate attention. The 5 priority call midyear statistics and definitions are:
- Priority 1 2026: 2,903 2025: 3,078 Change: -6%
(PRIORITY 1 CALLS are immediate threats to life or serious injury in progress requiring the highest the highest urgency response. APD police units to be dispatched immediately.)
- Priority 2 Calls: 2026: 66,663 2025: 61,442 Change: -8%
(PRIORITY 2 CALLS are serious incidents that require prompt response but are not life-threatening. APD police units respond as soon as possible, typically within a few minutes.
- Priority 3: 2026: 35,790 2025: 36,050 Change: -1%
(PRIORITY 3 CALLS are non-emergency situations that require police presence but do not pose an immediate threat. APD police units respond when available, often with a longer wait time.
- Priority 4: 2026: 20,574 2025: 22,175 Change: -7%
(PRIORITY 4 CALLS are situations that require police attention but are not urgent, such as reports or follow-ups. APD police Units may respond as resources allow, often scheduled for later.)
- Priority 5: 2026: 60,075 2025: 6,922 Change: -12%
(PRIORITY 5 CALLS are administrative or informational calls that do not require police action. No immediate APD police unit response is requires and are handled through other means or scheduled for follow-up.)
The link to the quoted or relied upon source is here:
https://www.cabq.gov/police/crime-statistics
HISTORICAL DROP IN HOMICIDES AND AGGRAVATED ASSAULTS
The most significant statistics reported by APD is that the city’s homicides went down 19% from 120 in 2022 to 93 in 2023 and again went down to 89 homicides in 2024 and dropped further to 65 in 2026. This marks Albuquerque’s largest decrease since 2010, when homicide totals hovered in the 30s.
According to APD, the downward trend in homicides is a result of better staffing, making more arrests in violent crime and solving cases. APD has attributed an improving solve rate to increasing the assigned homicide unit and improve training of homicide detectives.
Following are the number of recorded homicides for the last 10 years:
- 2017: 70 homicides
- 2018: 69 homicides
- 2019: 80 homicides
- 2020: 78 homicides
- 2021: 110 homicides
- 2022: 120 homicides
- 2023: 93 homicides
- 2024: 98 homicides
- 2025: 65 homicides
- 2026: 36 homicides (Mid Year)
https://www.cabq.gov/police/crime-statistics/homicide-statistics
Following are the Aggravated Assaults numbers for the past 10 years that also reflect a decline:
- 2017: 4,213
- 2018: 5,156
- 2019: 5,337
- 2020: 5,592
- 2021: 5,669
- 2022: 5,399
- 2023: 4,961
- 2024: 4,407
- 2025: 3,905
- 2026: 2,260 (MID YEAR)
Links to quoted or relied upon news sources are here:
https://www.cabq.gov/police/crime-statistics/nibrs/nibrs-2024-annual
https://www.cabq.gov/police/crime-statistics
COMMENTARY AND ANSLYSIS
ARRESTING AND WAREHOUING HOMELESS IN JAIL
The 2026 midyear crime statistics revealing a 104% increase in “Median Citations” from 141 to 288 and the 88% increase in “Criminal Trespass Citations” from 1,653 to 3,111 are clear evidence that APD and Mayor Tim Keller are removing the unhoused from the streets of Albuquerque to jail them as a solution.
On March 4, ProRepublica, online and non-profit investigative journalism organization, published an investigative report entitled “Albuqurquerque’s Mayor Said Arrrests Were “Not the Solution” to Homeless. Yet Bookings Have Skyrocketed”. The article was written by ProRepublica reporters Nicole Santa Cruz and Ruth Talbot. The link to read the full unedited article is here:
According to the ProRepublica report in 2025, people were charged 1,256 times for obstructing sidewalks, nearly six times the number of cases in the previous eight years combined. More than 3,000 trespassing charges were handed out last year, the highest for any year since 2017. And cases of unlawful camping increased to 704 from 113 the year before, according to previously unreported county data provided to ProPublica by the New Mexico Administrative Office of the Courts.
Over the four years during Mayor Keller’s second term, the number of bookings in Bernalillo County’s jail classified as “homeless” or “transient” has skyrocketed to nearly 12,000 in 2025, from 3,670 in 2022, with much of the increase in numbers attributed to repeat offenders. The share of people booked who are transient have made up about 49% of the jail’s population.
Last year, 1,256 people were charged with sidewalk obstruction misdemeanors which is nearly six times the number of cases from the previous eight years combined. This has occurred as the average daily population at the jail from July 2024 through June 2025 reached its highest point in a decade. On some days last year, the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center held more homeless people than the Gateway Shelter on the west side which is the largest local shelter.
The city’s homeless population has more than doubled from 2022 to 2025, while the increase in homeless people jailed by the county has more than tripled during the same time period. Police and court records and interviews with homeless people show the increase in their incarceration is primarily driven by the cascading effects of repeatedly citing people who are experiencing homelessness.
More must and can be done by the courts mandating unhoused people off the streets and ordering them into the mental health or drug addiction treatment programs they desperately need. The city attorney and the district attorney should form a specialized unit to initiate civil mental health commitments in Metro Court to secure court orders to get chronically mentally ill and drug-addicted people off city streets.
KELLER’S NEW DIVERSION PROGRAM FAILS TO PROVIDE FOR CIVIL MENTAL HEALTH COMITMENTS
During her July 22 Economic Forum presentation, Chief Barker said that Mayor Keller’s newly created diversion court program and proactive policing tactics may be the key to bringing the city’s crime numbers down further, particularly in cases involving people who are homeless in Albuquerque.
It was on Friday, May 5, 2026 that Mayor Keller announced a new Diversion Program aimed at offering services and treatment to the unhoused who are cited, and often eventually arrested, for blocking sidewalks and similar city code violations. The proposed Fiscal Year 27 City Budget line item submitted to the City Council by Mayor Keller for the Diversion Program was originally for $400,000, but the City Council reduced the amount to $200,000 in the approved F/Y 27 budget as a compromise after the City Council demanded further specifics on the diversion program.
Mayor Tim Keller has spent $300 million over the last four years to build five shelters known as the Gateway System. Keller is spending $85,283,471 in the 2027 fiscal year on 122 service contracts for unhoused services and shelter. Upwards of 75% of chronically unhoused people refuse city shelter and services.
The most recent Point-In-Time Survey of Albuquerque’s unhoused people found an 8% increase in the city’s homeless population, going from 2,740 to 2,960. Service providers estimate the actual number of unhoused people approaches 5,000. A 2025 report by the city found 30% of individuals experiencing homelessness self-report having a serious mental illness, 25% self-report having a substance use disorder and 66% experience some form of mental health condition. The New Mexico Justice Reinvestment Working Group found 65% of all individuals who enter the state’s criminal justice system have a behavioral health need.
The new diversion initiative is designed to address the cycle of low-level, non-violent offenses that often result in brief and ineffective periods of detention without treatment or long-term resolution. The approach shifts the City’s response from a system that cycles individuals through arrest and release to one that uses legal intervention as a pathway into services, while maintaining accountability for participation. Mayor Keller has said that since February the Albuquerque Police Department has diverted 85 people into services of some kind.
The City’s new diversion initiative deals with voluntary “legal intervention” without addresses mandatory measures. Absent from Mayor Keller’s new city diversion program is any involvement with civil mental health commitments of the unhoused who pose an immediate danger to themselves or others or who are suffering from drug addiction.
On January 6, the Metropolitan Court Diversion Court was launched. The court redirects people with serious mental illness into voluntary treatment as an alternative to criminal prosecution for minor and nonviolent crimes. The court deals with people who previously have had criminal charges dismissed because they were found incompetent to stand trial. Eligible defendants are assessed by a social worker or case manager at the point of prosecution and offered on a voluntary basis a structured diversion option, including shelter intake, case management, substance use or mental health treatment, or other supportive services.
More must and can be done by the courts mandating unhoused people off the streets and ordering them into the mental health or drug addiction treatment programs they desperately need. The City Attorney and the District Attorney should form a specialized unit to initiate civil mental health commitments in Metro Court to secure court orders to get chronically mentally ill and drug-addicted people off city streets and get them the medical or mental health counseling help they desperately need.
FINAL COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
After a seven year period from 2017 to 2024 in spiking homicide rates, aggravated assault rates and other major crime rates, it can now be said with a degree of certainty that the City’s crime rates are indeed going down. Albuquerque’s downward trend in the most serious categories of crime mirrors those seen nationally, even in the most violent cities. Across the country, the decrease has been attributed to an easing of the societal impacts of the pandemic.
APD says the reductions is a result of better staffing and making more arrests for violent crime. Hiring additional homicide detectives and leveraging data and technology have had an impact. Increased funding on new technology and concentration on increasing personnel for violent crime investigations and analysis to solve more crimes, and making more arrests resulting in prosecutions have been major contributors to reducing the city’s crime statistics . In other words, it has been APD return to basic, tried and true police practices that have had an impact on reducing crime. (See POSTCRIPT for news article analysis.)
APD Chief Barker concluded her presentation to the Economic Forum by telling attendees that her ultimate goals for APD are:
- Reducing Violent Crime
- Strengthening trust within the community and
- Having victim-oriented policing strategies.
The most troubling statistic in the mid-year report is that Drugs and Narcotics Offenses are up by a whopping 76% no doubt reflecting the fentanyl crisis. Chef Baker essentially glossed over the 76% increase in drug and narcotics offenses and what APD is actually doing to bring the statistic down by merely saying “We really are trying to make an arrest of the people who are supplying the drugs”. Chief Barker did not elaborate on what APD needs in resources to get the job done and if APD is cooperating and coordinating efforts with the Bernalillo County Sherriff’s Office or the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The DEA is likely a source spot with the City given the recent controversy with the DEA and its handling of cases that flooded the city with fentanyl in an attempt to make cases against major dealers .
What is very disappointing is that Chief Baker chose the Economic Forum to make her report when such a presentation should have been made to the City Council or at least in a more public forum to educate the public as opposed to trying to educate the city’s movers and shakers to ingratiate herself to them. While city residents can take comfort that crime is going down, we still must deal with the “in your face” homeless crisis as a daily reminder what is going on in the city as well as the 76% increase in drugs and narcotics offenses.
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POSTSCRIPT
The Center for American Progress (CAP) is a public policy research and advocacy organization. CAP focuses on a wide range of issues, including economic opportunity, social policy, national security, environmental protection and law enforcement trends.
On August 5, 2025 CAP published an article on the released 2024 data from the FBI show historic lows in the national murder rate, violent crime rate, and property crime rate. The report was entitled Nationwide 2024 Crime Data Demonstrate the Value of Violence Prevention and Local Law Enforcement. Following are edited outtakes from the report followed by the link to the full report:
On August 5, 2025, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released crime data confirming that the overall rates of violent and property crime in the United States declined in 2024, recording the lowest property crime rate and lowest violent crime rate since at least 1969. These data support a trend of sustained and historic declines in the nation’s crime rate since 2022.
These significant public safety gains follow a catastrophic surge in the nation’s murder rate between 2020 and 2021, which coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, a surge that saw a 44 percent increase in firearm-related homicides nationally between March 2020 and October 2021. Not only does this newly released data support the finding that the country has returned to pre-pandemic levels of crime and violence, but many communities across the country, including Baltimore, Detroit, and Philadelphia, are now much safer today than before the pandemic started.
This positive trend is a testament to the successful coordination between community-based organizations; law enforcement; and local, state, and federal policymakers that have maximized federal funding opportunities and policies from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), and the Community-Based Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative (CVIPI) to make all American communities safer. … .
Key findings from 2024 FBI Reported Crimes in the Nation Statistics report include:
- The national murder rate again recorded the largest one-year decline in homicides, down 9 percentfrom 2023 to 2024. This means that there have been back-to-back years of historic declines after the murder rate declined by 10 percentfrom 2022 to 2023.*
- Gun homicides are down 16.7% in 2024 compared with 2023, and assaults with a firearm are down 8.6% in 2024 compared with 2023. When the national murder rate surged in 2020 and 2021,homicides with a gun were the primary driverwhile other types of homicides remained flat.
- Overall violent crime declined by 4.5% from 2023 to 2024, the lowest recorded rate since 1969.
- Overall property crime declined by 8.1%, the lowest recorded rate since 1961. Motor vehicle thefts decreased by 18.6 percent from 2023 to 2024. However, reported shoplifting nationwide went up by 8.9 percent in 2024 compared with 2023.
- Alabama, the District of Columbia, and Iowa each showed double-digit percentage decreases in violent crime rates, and 18 states showed double-digit percentage decreases in property crime rates in the 2024 FBI data compared with 2023.
- While cities with a population of greater than 1,000,000 saw the largest declines in murders on average, down 19.1% communities of all sizes experienced significant declines, and no group category of community saw an average increase in violent crime compared with 2023. Nonmetropolitan counties saw a 4.6% decrease in overall violent crime and a 16 percent decline in murders. Similarly, suburban areas saw a 5.7 percent decrease in overall violent crime and a 12.4 percent decline in murders.
- Nationwide, law enforcement agencies reportedclearing 43.8 percent of all violent crimes and 15.9 percent of all property crimes in 2024.
EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES HAVE MADE COMMUNITIES SAFER
Progress in 2024 followed the first major gun reform bill passed by Congress in more than 30 years—the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. The BSCA made historic investments in violence intervention strategies and improved commonsense gun laws across the country by closing loopholes in the gun purchasing background check system, establishing federal criminal offenses for straw purchasing and trafficking, addressing dating violence loopholes, supporting implementation of extreme risk protection orders, and funding a 21st century pipeline of mental health professionals.
Jurisdictions that have experienced some of the most significant decreases in their gun victimization rates since 2021 have invested in violence reduction strategies that emphasize coordination with and investment in community-based organizations and can include improved data sharing practices and additional funding for community violence intervention (CVI) programs. CVI programs connect individuals at the highest risk of being involved in violence with resources and services to stop violence before it starts. Evaluations of CVI models consistently show that CVI programs are one of the most effective tools to interrupt cycles of violence. These gains were made possible because of vital federal funding support from ARPA, BSCA, and CVIPI grants.
The latest FBI data also estimate small increases in the rates at which murder, violent crime, and property crime are solved, known as clearance rates. After falling to a historic low of 49.4 percent in 2021, the clearance rate for murder increased to 61.4 in 2024 but has not surpassed pre-COVID rates. Cities such as Houston and Garfield Heights, Ohio, spent federal ARPA funds on new technology and on hiring police investigators and analysts to solve more crimes. While recent increases in clearance rates are encouraging, far too many crimes go unsolved in cities and rural areas alike, enabling many people to avoid accountability for the harm they cause.
Cities should follow the lead of cities such as Boston, which increased its homicide clearance rate by 19 percentage points by hiring additional detectives and leveraging data and technology, and Denver, which increased its nonfatal shooting clearance rate from 39 percent to 65 percent in the first seven months after establishing a specialized unit dedicated exclusively to solving nonfatal shootings. BSCA also contributed to reductions in gun crimes by giving law enforcement additional tools to stop illegal gun trafficking, preventing individuals convicted of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence from possessing firearms, expanding background checks, and investing in CVI programs.
The link to the unedited article is here: